Women as Minorities in Both East and West

By: Dr. Bouthaina Shaaban

1June 2005 (Daily Star)

In spite of the bloody events and worrying transformations that many countries in the Middle East are suffering because of the western campaign against Arabs and Muslims, important issues in Arab development process are being re- raised. The issue of women as a social gender is one raised not only by Arab women not only through their strife for equal opportunities; but also through important activities such as the World Economic Forum in Jordan and Women in Business International Forum in Damascus. These events coincide with the success of the Arab women in Kuwait in restoring their right to vote. Obviously, the issue of women, like any other issue in the world, has its true protagonists who believe in it because of religious, social and political reasons; and has, on the other hand, people who trade with it as a kind of propaganda for their regimes, countries or policies.    

The problem the world is facing today in the age of information and express media is that concepts have become more important than reality. This reduces the chances of handling the suffering on ground or terminating it.  Different western sides tend, from the position of arrogance, to urge Arabs and Muslims to empower women and to give them the proper role in the life of the state and community. This behavior comes as if these have become history in the West so that it now can concern itself with the rights of women in other countries as a conqueror spreading civilization, this time in the Arab and Muslim worlds!

Hence, we can understand the participation of Laura Bush in the World Economic Forum in Jordan and her speech on empowering women and expressing her happiness for what women in Kuwait have recently achieved. Her speech hits tow birds with one stone: the first is masking the criminal American policies in the Middle East, which have enraged the whole world because of the extreme suffering these policies cause to Palestinians and Iraqis. The second is to present the United States as a country that has completely secured freedoms and rights of women. The American reality and western reality in general, have not developed to solve the dilemma of women representation in political systems yet.

However, the virtues of these conferences and activities are the papers presented by researchers, which reveal figures different form what the media promotes in most cases. Unfortunately, media ignores the figures that indicate different reality; it rather confirms the preset concepts because of laziness sometimes or because of certain agendas in other times. 

Undoubtedly, the restoration of Arab wome in Kuwait their right to vote is extremely important. An achievement confirmed by pure Islam and Islamic history since Al-Aqabah homage to Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon Him). Nonetheless, we have to remember that in most Arab and Muslim countries women have practiced their right to vote since the dawn of Independence. In addition, women, in more than a Muslim country, assumed the highest governmental positions including presidency, premiership, ministerial, judiciary and parliamentary positions as well as a distinctive presence in the various fields of business and economy.

Research shows that the percentage of women occupying important positions in Parliaments and the governments in the world ranges between 10-15%. In the American Congress, for example, the women percentage is 14%, while it is 12% in the Tunisia and Syria. Only in Nordic countries, a different reality has been achieved. The interested observer will notice the scarcity of women appearance in the meetings of NATO, the meetings of western ministers of foreign affairs, or the presidents of the European Union. Such observation shows that those countries have yet to develop the political systems they inherited centuries ago, where women's representation has not yet realized a balanced percentage in the decision-making ranks. Therefore, those countries have no right to preach others on women empowerment. Controversy exists because of the contradiction between the image and the reality. The Muslim countries are proud of the values of parity and dignity that Islam gave to women fourteen centuries ago as the Shari'a insures the right of Muslim women to be partner in rule, work and life.

Many Muslim researchers aspire for changes in the situation of women; however, in a way different from what the West has witnessed, making use of mistakes such as those resulted in carelessness about of family, children and the elderly. Those researchers try to redefine equal opportunities in a way that respects individuals in the community far from the inferior classifications of the works related to the household.  Hence, the call in the Arab and Islamic worlds today is towards the equality of opportunities Islam urged for, rather than equality in general. This comes in the manner that everybody, man or woman, do the best of what he/she can do to realize the best profitability for society and for individuals. Researchers try also to raise the issue of bringing up children and caring for the elderly as social issue for which the West has failed to present a model solution. Moreover, pioneering religious and political figures in Arab and Muslim worlds look for solutions for complex political and social situations and believe that activating the role of women and utilizing her potential could change the lives of peoples and countries for good.

In this context, what eventually will significantly affect the future policies of these countries is not the teachings of some extreme doctrines, but rather the Islamic values. The break is sound and clear; it is a call to have self-confidence and not to underestimate the roles of maternity and family. At the same time, this break implies being unafraid of nomination to assume the highest offices, of loss and of saying 'no' as an answer to anything. In this break there is also the exhortation to respect religion and culture, caring for heritage and history and vivid competitiveness to ascend to the highest positions. Yet this should be associated with promoting ethical, political and social values not only assuring the participation and the prominence of women but also play an important role in reforming the world and saving it from trading stances for authoritarian, utilitarian, or propagandistic reasons. In this break, there is also a call for the West to practice the true democracy before exporting a distorted version of it. How could a country be democratic while it ignores 50% of its active power, namely women?  Does not democracy require activating all the elements of society and insuring equal rights?  Why is the West, despite its huge industrial progress, still incapable of developing its political system to solve the dilemma of women representation as the percentage of women in decision-making ranks is no more than 15%?

Revealing the reality of women's situation in the West does not decrease the necessity of addressing its situation in the East. However, what is required today is to stop trading stances and exchanging accusations and to focus on the equality of opportunities for women as a political, economic and cultural necessity. Men and all institutions should be truly involved in realizing this parity. Nevertheless, the most important of what we could emphasize at the beginning of the 21 century is that the active participation of women in all aspects of life. Accordingly, the facilitations and the new social and familial roles of men must become a material for discussion in countries' development plans not in mere women symposia predominated by revelations and sympathy while the reality continues to groan under the inherited stances and unfair laws.